Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

p e o p l e a n d p l a c e s

Studia Europaea Gnesnensia 7/2013

ISSN 2082–5951

Marjeta Šašel Kos

(Ljubljana)

The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

(Dalmatia and Pannonia) and the Problem
of the Northeastern Border of Italy1

Abstract
The article is a summarized overview of the Roman conquest of Illyria, later known
as the Roman province of Illyricum, the predecessor of Dalmatia and Pannonia. Three
Illyrian wars and the defeat of the two Illyrian kingdoms (Agron and Teuta, Demetrius
of Pharos, and Genthius) led to the establishment of Roman Illyria, which increased with
further Roman conquests. After the foundation of Aquileia in 181 BC, the Romans began
to penetrate the northern Adriatic and southeastern Alpine area, gradually extending
their sway in the direction of Pannonia; an important milestone in the history of Illyri-
cum was Octavian’s Illyrian war. Particular attention is paid to the northeastern boundary
of Italy (formerly Cisalpine Gaul), which bordered on Illyricum to the east of Emona.

Key words
Illyria, Illyrians, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Emona

The Polish translation of the article (Rzymski podbój Illirikum (Dalmacji i Panonii) i problem
1 

północno-wschodniej granicy Italii), edited by K. Królczyk, was published in Xenia Posnaniensia,

Book 1, Series 3, M. Musielak, K. Balbuza, A. Tatarkiewicz, K. Królczyk (eds.), Poznań 2013.

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The history of the Illyrians and Illyria, variously understood in modern

scholar­ship, is divided into different phases, of which the first, lasting to the col-
lapse of the Illyrian kingdom in 168 BC, may be explained in terms of (varying)
alliances of tribes and peoples of common or similar ethnic background, speaking
similar languages. Extreme theses, such as pan-Illyrism, which saw Illyrians in
the bearers of the Urnfield Culture, have been abandoned. From the first occur-
rence of the name in ancient authors the word had the meaning of a league of
peoples, but the existence of an original eponymous people may be reflected in
the legend of Cadmus and Harmonia and their son Illyrius (Fig. 1). After various
disasters suffered by their children, Cadmus, a Phoenician by origin, and Harmo-

Fig. 1.  The peoples and places related to the legend of Cadmus and Harmonia (from Arheološki
vestnik 44, 1993, 114)

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nia migrated from Boeotian Thebes, where they had reigned, to the Enchelei. The
anonymous mythographer, the author of the so-called “Mythological” Library of
Apollodorus (first century AD), told the legend at length, but the most important
passage reads: “Cadmus accompanied by Harmonia left Thebes and went to the
Enchelei. They were at war with the Illyrians who had attacked them, but they
had been advised by a god that they would defeat the Illyrians if they were led
by Cadmus and Harmonia. They trusted in the prophecy and appointed them as
leaders against the Illyrians, who were then defeated. Cadmus ruled over Illyria
and had a son Illyrius. Afterwards, together with Harmonia, he was turned into
a serpent and Zeus conveyed him to the Elysian Fields” (3.39.2).
The existence of the original eponymous Illyrians can also be inferred from
the data referring to the “Illyrii proprie dicti” of Pliny2 and Pomponius Mela3.
Pliny located them in the conventus of Narona, between Epidaurum and Lissus,
where the first contacts between Greek merchants (or explorers) and inhabit-
ants of a region called Illyria could have occurred (Fig. 2). However, the Illyr-
ians were barely known in the Greek world because Greek colonization of the
eastern Adriatic was either limited (Epidamnus/Dyrrhachium and Apollonia),
or late (colonization by Dionysius of Syracuse, notably the island of Issa with
the town of the same name).
Linguistically, almost nothing but personal and geographical names have
remained of the Illyrians, and it is uncertain whether the Illyrian language(s)
belonged to the kentum or satem linguistic groups. In the lexicon of Hesychius
only one word is defined as Illyrian, while over a hundred are Macedonian. There
are great differences in the onomastics and material culture of the individual
peoples; those living along the coast reached a higher stage of development.
Several distinct onomastic regions have been delimited, one of which comprises
Illyrian names attested in the southeast part of the eastern Adriatic and its
hinterland (the only group that may be defined as Illyrian), which is different
from the middle Dalmatian and northern Adriatic onomastic regions (Fig. 3).
The Illyrians are first mentioned by Hecataeus4 and Herodotus5, but more
data about the Illyrian peoples are contained in the “Periplus” of Pseudo-Scylax6

2
Pliny, NH 3.144.
3
Pompon. 2.3.56.
4
FGrHist I frs. 98–101.
5
Hdt. 1.196; 4.49.
6
GGM 1, p. 26 ff.

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Fig. 2.  The peoples settled in Illyricum (computer graphics: M. Belak)

(fourth century BC) and in Pseudo-Scymnus7 (second century BC). Of the in-
terior peoples, only the Autariatae are considered Illyrian. Already by the fifth

7
Ibid., 1, 211 ff.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 3.  The languages spoken in Illyricum and adjacent areas (from J. Šašel, Opera selecta, 1992,
126). 1: Celtic; 2: Venetic; 3: Pannonian; 4: Istrian and Liburnian; 5: Dacian and Moesian; 6:
Dardanian and Thracian; 7: Illyrian; 8: Epirote and Macedonian

century BC, Illyrian kingdoms were powerful, the name Illyrian becoming epony-
mous for a number of neighboring peoples and tribes. The kings of the earlier
dynasties (Bardylis, Grabos, Kleitos, Glaucias) are mainly known as the enemies
of the Macedonian kingdom, particularly from the king Amyntas onwards. The
best known is the Ardiaean dynasty of Agron and Teuta, as well as the kingdom
with its center among the Labeates under the last Illyrian king, Genthius.
The Illyrian kingdoms were ill-famed because of piracy, which threat-
ened Greek, Italian, and Roman merchants, and even coasts along Greece.

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Fig. 4.  The Liburni, Iapodes, and the other peoples in their vicinity (computer graphics: M. Belak)

The Romans conquered them in three wars; the first, in 229 BC, was directed
against Teuta and Agron’s son Pinnes, the second, in 219, was mainly against
Demetrius of Pharos, while the capture of Genthius in the third and last Illyr-
ian war (168  BC) marked the beginning of Roman dominion in the eastern
Adriatic. Illyria, which the Romans established in 167 BC, dividing it in three
parts8, should be regarded as the origin of the Roman concept of Illyricum. All
subsequent Roman conquests of northern coastal regions and the Dalmatian
hinterland were gradually added to Illyria. Administratively, several peoples
who were not ethnically related, such as the Liburni and the Iapodes, were
included in Illyricum (Fig. 4), and were called Illyrian merely on this account.

8
Livy 45.26.15.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 5.  Issa (photo P. Kos)

Greek and Latin authors of the late Republican and Imperial periods used the
name Illyrian in terms of the administrative organization of the Balkans, or else
in the geographical sense, since by their time a great deal of the northwestern
part of the peninsula belonged to Illyricum.

Agron and Teuta

Agron, son of Pleuratus (a common Illyrian name), came from the royal
house of the Ardiaei9. He re-conquered southern Illyria, which since Pyrrhus
had belonged to Epirus, and also brought under his dominion Corcyra, Epi-
damnus, and Pharos. When much of the Adriatic was threatened by his navy,
Issa turned to the Romans for help (Fig. 5). According to Appian, the Romans

9
Cass. Dio 12 fr. 49.1–7.

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and Issaeans sent an embassy to Agron, which was attacked by Illyrian ships.
The Illyrians killed the Roman ambassador Corruncanius and the Issaean
Cle­emporus, and this incident triggered off an attack by the Roman state on
Agron’s kingdom in 229 BC. However, Agron had died in the meantime, leav-
ing a small son, Pinnes, and his wife, Teuta, as regent, although she was not
the child’s mother10.
Agron, as other Illyrian kings before him, based his authority on the more or
less reliable collaboration of several dynasts; two are known by name, Demetrius
of Pharos and Scerdilaidas. When describing the background of the First Illyr-
ian War, Polybius emphasized that Agron’s sea and land forces had been greater
than those of any Illyrian king before him. His large-scale piratical attacks, as
well as his alliance with the Macedonian king Demetrius II, became a threat
for all who navigated the Adriatic. The siege of Acarnanian Medion by the Ae-
tolians, and their defeat by the Illyrians in 231 BC echoed throughout Greece,
since the Aetolian League was one of the strongest states in Greece11. However,
after his victory Agron died as a consequence of feasting excesses.
Teuta was his second wife and the stepmother and regent of his son and
successor Pinnes. After Agron’s death just before the outbreak of the First Ill­
yrian War (230 BC), the Illyrians under Teuta pillaged Elis and Messenia and
captured Phoenice in Epirus with the help of Gaulish mercenaries. The Epirotes
entered into an alliance with the Illyrians12.
In subsequent chapters Polybius described the war; it broke out due to long-
standing piracy, which imperilled the Italian traders, who were being robbed,
killed, or imprisoned. In his account, which differs slightly from Appian’s, the
Senate sent two envoys, Gaius and Lucius Coruncanii, to Teuta, who, after hav-
ing put down an Illyrian revolt, was besieging Issa, the only town that had not
yet submitted. After an interview between Teuta and the ambassadors, during
which she told them that it was not in her power to prevent piratical attacks by
her vassals, the younger envoy was assassinated on the return journey, allegedly
by order of Teuta. Her light ships besieged Corcyra, attacked Epidamnus, and
at the island of Paxi defeated the united Achaean and Aetolian navy with the
help of the Acarnanians. Eventually Corcyra had to receive an Illyrian garrison
under the command of Demetrius of Pharos.

10
App., Illyr. 7.17–19.
11
Polyb. 2.2.1–2.4.5.
12
Ibid. 2.4.6–2.7.12.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 6.  The regions conquered by the Romans after the First Illyrian War (after P. Cabanes,
Épire, 1976, map 6)

The First Illyrian War was conducted by the consuls of 229  BC, Gnaeus
Fulvius Centumalus sailing with 200 ships, while Lucius Postumius Albinus
brought land forces from Brundisium, consisting of about 20,000 foot and
2000 horse. Demetrius betrayed Teuta, delivering Corcyra to the Romans; the
city was received under Roman protection, as well as Apollonia, Epidamnus,
and eventually Issa. The Romans subdued the Ardiaei, while several embassies
offered surrender, among others those of the Parthini and Atintanes (Fig. 6).

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The Romans conquered Illyrian cities along the coast, and only at Nutria (not
identified) did they suffer defeat. Teuta escaped with a few followers to the
fortified and strategically well-placed Rhizon (present-day Risan); the consuls
entrusted much of Illyria to Demetrius.
Fulvius returned with most of both armies to Rome, while Postumius re-
mained over the winter in Epidamnus with forty ships and a newly enrolled
legion. In early spring of 228 BC, Teuta made a treaty, consenting to pay trib-
ute, to withdraw from all of Illyria except a few places, and not to sail beyond
Lissus with more than two unarmed ships. Appian, whose portrait of Teuta is
more objective, mentioned that after the defeat she sent an embassy to Rome to
deliver captives and deserters and to apologize for the events that had occurred
during Agron’s reign, and not under her. According to Dio, she later abdicated13.
The Romans concluded a treaty of amicitia with Pinnes, who reigned in part of
the former kingdom of Agron.

Demetrius of Pharos

Demetrius most probably originated from a (half) Greek family, for gen-
erations settled on Pharos. He was a dynamic local ruler close to the Illyrian
(Ardiaean) dynasty of Agron and Teuta. In Polybius’ narrative, Demetrius first
appeared as the commander of a garrison of Illyrian soldiers at Corcyra; he
betrayed Teuta and delivered the city to the Romans, for which he was re-
warded with some strongholds14; later most of Illyria was placed under his
authority15.
After the First Illyrian War (228  BC) he married Triteuta, the mother of
Agron’s son Pinnes, becoming his regent and master of what remained of the
Illyrian kingdom. In the next eight years, Demetrius collaborated with the Il-
lyrian dynast Scerdilaidas (usually erroneously regarded as Agron’s brother),
and allied himself with the Macedonian king Antigonus Doson. He was an
ally of the Macedonian kingdom, and his policy was anti-Roman. He broke
the treaty with the Romans by attacking Roman Illyria, sailing beyond Lissus
with fifty boats, pillaging Greek coasts as far as the Cyclades, and threatening

13
Cass. Dio. 12 fr. 49.7.
14
App., Illyr. 8.22.
15
Polyb. 2.11.17.

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Fig. 7.  Demetrius of Pharos allied himself with the Histri, attacking Roman and Syracusan ships
in the Adriatic. The Romans were then fighting against the Celts in the Po Valley (computer
graphics: M. Belak)

the Romans in the northern Adriatic, where he allied himself with the Histri
(Fig. 7). Lucius Aemilius Paullus was sent to Illyria in 219 BC and captured his
stronghold at Dimale in seven days. Pharos, where Demetrius had quartered
6000 of the bravest soldiers, fell by means of a stratagem. Demetrius fled to the
Macedonian king Philip, and allegedly perished during an attack on Messene.

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Genthius

According to Appian, the center of the kingdom of the last ‘Illyrian’ king
Genthius was different from that of Agron and Pinnes16; and indeed, as is
known from Livy, Genthius reigned among the Labeates17 with a capital at
Scodra near Labeatis Lacus (Fig. 8). Probably Genthius’ kingdom extended
from the lower Naro River through southern Dalmatia and Montenegro to
the Drinus River in northern Albania, including some of the islands as far as
Black Corcyra. His father Pleuratus led a pro-Roman policy, and Genthius,
too, was Roman ally.
Lissus and Scodra, where Genthius minted his coins, were his most impor-
tant residences. He had a strong fleet, and a ship is represented on the coins’
reverse (Fig. 9). Already in 172  BC, Issa, which felt threatened by Genthius’
piratical attacks, denounced the king to the Romans for having concluded
an alliance with Perseus, which he did shortly before the Third Macedonian
War. Perseus’ defeat was also the end of Genthius’ kingdom; he was con-
quered in twenty or thirty days by Lucius Anicius Gallus, praetor peregrinus
in 168 BC.
Livy mentioned that the Roman legate Perpenna “set off for Meteon, bring-
ing back to the camp at Scodra the king’s wife Etleva with his two sons,

Fig. 8.  View of Scodra (photo P. Kos)

16
App., Illyr. 9.25.
17
Livy 43.19.3.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 9.  Bronze coins of Genthius, with a depiction of a ship on the reverse (from Albanien,
1988, 271 no. 137 a, b)

Scerdilaedus and Pleuratus, as well as his brother Caravantius”18. After hav-

ing conquered the Illyrian kingdom, Anicius carried off considerable booty,
which consisted of gold and silver, as well as 13,000 denarii and 120,000 Il-
lyrian silver coins. Illyria was divided into three regions.

Later Illyria

The Illyria known to Strabo (referring to the age of Augustus) was a coun-
try stretching from the upper reaches of the Adriatic down to the Rhyzonic
Gulf and the Ardiaei, between the sea and the Pannonian peoples19; descrip-
tions in Appian20 and Cassius Dio21 are not much different. Military cam-
paigns were conducted by the Romans mainly from their bases on the Italian
side of the Adriatic. Simultaneously the Roman army also operated from
Cisalpine Gaul, extending its boundaries in the direction of Illyricum, notably
over the Histrians, who had been conquered in 177  BC. From Aquileia, the

18
Livy 44.32.3.
19
Strabo, 7.5.3 C 314.
20
App., Illyr. 1.
21
Cass. Dio 12; Zonar. 8.19.8.

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Fig. 10.  The Ocra Pass below Mt. Ocra (present-day Nanos) (from Horvat, Bavdek, Ocra, 2009, 21)

Romans advanced across the Ocra Pass (Fig. 10) and founded Nauportus as
an Aquileian outpost. Under Augustus the regions beyond Emona and the
Arsia River in Histria belonged to Illyricum, while the Emona Basin and
Histria belonged to Italy.
Vatinius, appointed by Caesar, was probably the first to have governed only
Illyricum (45–43  BC), while Caesar had been proconsul of both Galliae and
Illyricum (59–49 BC). After the Pannonian-Dalmatian rebellion in AD 9, Illyri-
cum may have been divided into superius and inferius, but was officially called
Dalmatia and Pannonia probably not earlier than under Vespasian; after this
division, no Roman province bore the name Illyricum. The degree of accultura-
tion of the various peoples within these two provinces greatly varied; however,
the unifying factors were mainly Romanization and urbanization that followed
local trends, their intensity differing from region to region.
Already by the Augustan age, Illyricum no longer had anything to do with
the original Illyrian territory in southern Dalmatia and northern Albania, but
denoted most of the northern and central Balkans.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 11.  View of Delminium (photo P. Kos)

Dalmatia

The province of Dalmatia, formerly Illyricum, was named after the Del-
matae, who occupied the hinterland of Salonae between the Titius (Krka) and
Nestos/Hippius (Cetina) Rivers on the fringes of the Illyrian kingdom, with
their center at Delminium on the Duvanjsko polje plain (Fig. 11). Their north-
ern neighbours, the Liburni, controlled the region from the Titius to the Arsia
River (Raša) in Istria, including the nearby islands. The mountain ranges of
Učka, Gorski Kotar, and Velebit divided the Liburni from the Iapodes. Dalma-
tia is a Dinaric Karst region, sharply divided between a coastal strip with over
a thousand islands22 and a mountainous hinterland, connected to the coast only
along a few narrow river valleys. The northeastern regions of Dalmatia were
geographically and ethnically related to Pannonia, with the border between the

Pliny, NH 3.151–152.
22

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Fig. 12.  The most important ‘Illyrian’ peoples, including the Delmatae, the main Roman enemies
after the fall of Genthius (computer graphics: M. Belak)

provinces extending south of the Savus (Sava) River. Most of the interconnect-
ing provincial roads were constructed during the reign of Tiberius (Fig. 12).
The Delmatae, who threatened Issa (a Roman ally), and the Daorsi (who
enjoyed Roman protection), became the main enemies of the Roman state
after the fall of Genthius (Fig. 13). Their capital Delminium was destroyed by
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica in 155 BC23; a year before they were decisively
defeated by Gaius Marcius Figulus, as is vividly described by Appian24: “As

23
Strabo 7.5.5 C 315.
24
App., Illyr. 11.32.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 13.  The Delmatae threatened Tragurium and Epetium, founded by Issa, and also the Daorsi
and others under Roman protection (computer graphics: M. Belak)

he could not take the fortified town by storm, and because of its high posi-
tion he could not use the siege equipment he had with him, he attacked and
conquered the other towns, which had been partially deserted on account of
the concentration of forces in Delminium. Figulus then had two-cubit long
staffs covered with flax and smeared with pitch and sulphur, which were shot
by catapults into Delminium. They caught fire because of friction and flew
through the air like torches, causing fires wherever they fell, until most of the
town had burnt”. They suffered further defeats during the second and first
centuries BC. In 135  BC, Servius Fulvius Flaccus defeated the Ardiaei and
drove them from the coastal regions into the hinterland, where they gradu-
ally declined.
During his proconsulship in Galliae and Illyricum (59–49  BC), Caesar
quelled an insurrection of the Pirustae in 54 BC, but was defeated by the Del-
matae. Centers of Romanization at that time were Greek Issa, as well as Caesar’s
praesidium Epidaurum, and communities of Roman citizens at Salonae, Na-
rona, and Lissus. All except Issa sided with Caesar in the conflict with Pompey;
the Delmatae joined the latter. In general, the Caesarian party fared worse in
Dalmatia than the Pompeians (Fig. 14).

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Fig. 14.  Illyricum at the time of Caesar’s proconsulate (computer graphics: M. Belak)

The Pannonian part of Illyricum

The northeastern hinterland of Cisalpine Gaul was in the process of being

gradually conquered ever since the founding of Aquileia in 181  BC. An im-
portant step in establishing contacts with the Transalpine Celts mentioned by
Livy were diplomatic dealings of the Roman Senate at the time of the founding
of Aquileia with the “Elders” of one of the Transalpine Celtic peoples, whose
identity is not clear. They have usually been identified as the Norici, although
this is far from certain. Ten years afterwards, in 171 BC, the consul Gaius Cas-
sius Longinus decided to march with two legions, without the knowledge of

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

the Senate, from Aquileia to Macedonia, to gain glory and booty in the third
Macedonian war; he was probably recalled before he reached Segestica/Siscia.
On the way back, his army plundered the regions of the Iapodes, Alpini populi
(perhaps the Taurisci), Histri, and Carni, who all complained in the Senate
about these depredations25.
The next known action was the military expedition of Gaius Sempronius
Tuditanus in 129  BC against the Iapodes, Histri, and Taurisci, and perhaps
also the Carni (Fig. 15); the latter were attacked and defeated by Marcus Ae-
milius Scaurus in 115 BC. Four years earlier, however, the first known military
campaign against the Segestani took place, under “Lucius Cotta and Metel-
lus”, which is mentioned by Appian26. Lucius Aurelius Cotta was the consul
of 119  BC, while Metellus was a member of the Caecilii Metelli family, who
cannot be identified with certainty. The conquest of Segestica/Siscia meant
the first step in subduing the Pannonian part of Illyricum. Octavian’s military
campaigns in Illyricum in 35–33 BC were decisive for a systematic conquest of
Illyricum and for organizing it as a stable province that was no longer merely
a military province.

Octavian’s Illyrian war

The best source for this war is Appian27, who based his narrative on Augus-
tus’ “Memoirs”; it is supplemented by the account in the “Roman History” of
Cassius Dio. Octavian subdued several peoples and tribes, most of whom are
known by name, but only some were dangerous enemies whose conquest de-
manded greater efforts. Summing up the war at the beginning of the 17th chap-
ter of his “Illyrian History”, Appian stated that “the greatest difficulties were
caused to Octavian’s army by the Salassi, the Iapodes on the other side of the
Alps, and the Segestani, and further the Dalmatae, the Daesii and the Paeones
(i.e. Pannonians), who live far away from the Salassi”. The military campaign
against the Salassi, who controlled the Little and Great St Bernard passes, and
thus the routes to Helvetia and the Upper Rhine, was conducted far outside
Illyricum, but was obviously planned at the same time as the Illyrian War.

25
Livy 43.5.1 ff.
26
App., Illyr. 10. 30; cf. also 22. 62.
27
Ibid. 16–28.

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Fig. 15. Sempronius Tuditanus attacked the Histri, Taurisci, and Iapodes, and reached the river
Titius (= Krka), the boundary river of the Liburni (computer graphics: M. Belak)

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 16. Octavian’s Illyrian War (computer graphics: M. Belak)

This war was divided into two phases, both in terms of space and time
(Fig. 16). After having defeated the Carni and Taurisci — obviously from the
military base at Aquileia — Octavian’s army proceeded towards the Segestani
and their centre at Segest(ic)a/Siscia. At the same time some of the Roman
troops were probably transported by ships to Senia and marched from there
against the Iapodes. This is not explicitly mentioned in the sources, but could

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be inferred from Appian, who wrote that Octavian fought against the pirates
from the islands of Melita and Black Corcyra in the southern Adriatic, as well
as against the Liburnian pirates in the north. While Octavian exterminated
the former, he only confiscated ships from the Liburni28, which indicates, on
the one hand, that the Liburni were more cooperative than hostile, and on the
other, that he needed the boats for his war, no doubt both for the transfer of
troops and logistics.
His army then marched against the Iapodes in the Alps, the Moentini and
the Avendeatae, who surrendered immediately, as well as against the most nu-
merous and most bellicose among them, the Arupini. However, the greatest
resistance was offered by the transalpine Iapodes; Octavian took Terponus, but
most of the Iapodes gathered in their fortified capital of Metulum. In several
fierce battles the Metulans even “fired from the wall upon the soldiers with
military devices, seized in the war which had been fought there by Decimus
Brutus against Antony and Augustus”29. Octavian was seriously wounded dur-
ing the siege, but eventually Metulum fell.
The next episode described by Appian was the capture of Segesta/Siscia in
the region of the Segestani, the well-known emporium at the confluence of the
Sava and Kolpa/Kupa Rivers (Fig. 17). In his parallel description of the fall of
Segest(ic)a/Siscia, Cassius Dio, preferring the contemporary denomination, al-
ways calls the town Siscia, an ancient name of the settlement, which eventually
prevailed over the Celtic Segest(ic)a and gave name to the later Flavian colony.
Appian mentioned that Octavian advanced against the Segestani “through the
country of the Paeones (meaning the Pannonians), which was also not under
Roman authority at that time”. The historian added that the region was wooded,
extending from the Iapodes to the Dardanians, and that the Pannonians did
not live in cities, but in villages. There were 100,000 men capable of fighting,
but because of the absence of a common government and a military leader,
they also had no common army30. The Pannonian region that was traversed
by Octavian’s soldiers on their way to Segesta was most probably that of the
Colapiani (formerly perhaps under Iapodian dominion) and the Oseriates, as
well as other tribes not known by name. In any case, these must have been some
of the socially least developed peoples of the future province of Pannonia, but

28
App., Illyr. 16.47.
29
Ibid. 19.54.
30
Ibid. 22.62–63.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 17. Segest(ic)a/Siscia at the confluence of two navigable rivers (after Šašel, Opera selecta,
1992, 611)

nonetheless — as Appian claimed at the beginning of his account — they had

fought fiercely before they were overcome.
Octavian wanted to occupy Segest(ic)a/Siscia to use it as a supply base for his
planned war against the Dacians and the Bastarnae; Segesta’s strategic position
was indeed excellent. Appian reported that Octavian ordered ships to be built
on the Sava River to transport provisions to the Danube and the regions of the
Dacians. It is strange, however, that he did not make any mention of the river
battle at Segesta (as he calls the town), which is briefly described by Dio31. In
one of the two rivers running by the settlement, that is, either the Colapis or the

31
Cass. Dio 49.37.

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Fig. 18.  The site of Promona (photo P. Kos)

Savus, Octavian’s naval general Menodorus, a freedman of Pompey the Great

and the former navy commander of Sextus Pompeius, lost his life.
After the fall of Segesta, Octavian left a garrison of twenty-five cohorts in
the town under the command of Fufius Geminus; Geminus quelled a revolt of
the Segestani, which broke out after Octavian’s departure. Interestingly, Fufius
Geminus is not mentioned in Appian’s detailed narrative, but only in Dio’s
rather short description of the Illyrian War. In the spring of 34 BC, the Roman
army was directed against the most formidable enemy in the future province
of Dalmatia, the Delmatae, as well as against some less important peoples liv-
ing along the coast or in the immediate hinterland. The Dalmatian phase of
the Illyrian War is described by Appian in the four subsequent chapters of his
“Illyrian History” (25–28), while Dio devoted only two sentences to it32. He
mentioned that the Delmatae were first fought by Agrippa and then by Caesar

32
Ibid. 49.38.3–4.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

(= Octavian); Octavian was again wounded, some soldiers were punished by

receiving oats instead of grain, while deserters were decimated.
Appian’s description is more exhaustive, and he described the capture of
Promona in considerable detail. This was the first stronghold that could have
been successfully defended to protect the Delmataean territories and was there-
fore vitally important for the Delmatae (Fig. 18). The fortress had been disputed
between them and the Liburni (Appian twice called it Liburnian), and was
recaptured from the latter by the Delmataean general Verso, who commanded
12,000 warriors33. Appian then recounted the capture of Sinotium, where Ga-
binius’ army had been ambushed and defeated during the time of Caesar, and
the Delmatae seized legionary standards. Octavian recaptured them, skillfully
using his exploit in terms of political propaganda against Antony; at the sym-
bolic level, this was no doubt one of the greatest achievements of his Illyrian
War. The siege of Setovia followed, which was successfully ended in 33 BC by
one of Octavian’s best generals, Titus Statilius Taurus. The surrender of the Der-
bani is the last action reported by Appian to have taken place in the course of
the Illyrian War; Octavian celebrated three triumphs on 13, 14, and 15 August
in 29 BC, commemorating his victories in Illyricum, at Actium, and in Egypt.
It is known from Cassius Dio that the province was organized as senatorial in
27  BC, and Gnaeus Baebius Tamphilus Vála Numonianus, whose inscription
was found at the fountain in the forum at Iader, and who may have been the
builder of the Iader forum and perhaps the patron of the town, was one of the
first proconsuls in Illyricum34.

The Augustan reorganization

Tiberius’ Pannonian war of 11–9  BC was important for the further con-
quest of Illyricum; it extended also into the Dalmatian part of the province,
while final pacification occurred after the great Pannonian-Dalmatian rebel-
lion of AD 6–9. Bato, the leader of the rebel Daesitiates (Fig. 19), reproached
the Romans for having sent wolves instead of shepherd dogs to the province,
thus well illustrating some of the negative aspects of Roman provincial policy
under Augustus.

App., Illyr. 12.34; 25.72.

33

AE 2000, 1181.
34

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Fig. 19.  The great Pannonian-Dalmatian revolt conducted by two Batos, the leaders of the Breuci
and Daesitiates (after Šašel Kos, Historical Outline, 1986, 191)

Illyricum, then the name of the undivided province, extended as far as the
Danube. This was emphasized by Augustus in the inscription commemorating his
deeds (“Res gestae”): “I subjected to Roman rule, through Tiberius Nero who was
then my stepson and legate, certain Pannonian tribes that had not been reached
by a Roman army before my reign, thereby extending the frontier of Illyricum as
far as the Danube”35. However, not all of the later Pannonia was subdued during
the Pannonian War, and it is not quite clear how these famous words, “protulique
fines Illyrici ad ripam fluminis Danuvii”, should be correctly interpreted.
Under Augustus, the Pannonian peoples were administratively divided be-
tween Upper and Lower Illyricum, the future provinces of Dalmatia and Pan-

35
Mon. Anc. 30.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 20.  The tropaeum erected at Tilurium, one of the two legionary fortresses in Dalmatia (from
Cambi, Urbanisierung, [in:] Sanader (ed.), Kroatien in der Antike, 2007, 99)

nonia. Two triumphal arches were erected in Pannonia36 (i.e. Lower Illyricum at
the time), tropaeum was set up at Tilurium (Fig. 20), and no doubt many precious
objects commemorated the Roman victory, of which the Gemma Augustea has
been preserved to date. The missing togatus may be interpreted as Tiberius, of the
two captives one has been identified as Bato and the other as Pinnes, while the two
captive women would have represented the conquered Dalmatia and Pannonia.

Emona and the northeastern border of Italy

Emona, some 100 km distant from Tergeste, has often been wrongly linked
to Pannonia, although it never actually belonged to it administratively; even in

36
Cass. Dio 56.17.2

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Fig. 21.  The area of Emona and Nauportus belonged to Italy, but was near the borders of No-
ricum and Pannonia (computer graphics: M. Belak)

terms of geography it would perhaps be more natural for Emona to be included

within Noricum as had also been Carnuntum (later the capital of Pannonia),

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

which is mentioned by Velleius Paterculus as “a place in the Norican kingdom”37.

The Romans probably conquered the regions of Nauportus and Emona during
Caesar’s proconsulate and annexed them to Cisalpine Gaul; contrary to the
current opinion, they had never belonged to Illyricum (Fig. 21). But according
to Theodor Mommsen, too, Emona would have always been in Italy38.
Pliny is the first to mention Emona as a Roman colony, but he placed it in
Pannonia39. The passage is short and begins by stating that the regions of Pan-
nonia are rich in acorns, that the Alpine chain gradually becomes less steep,
gently sloping to the right and left as it traverses Illyricum from north to south,
and that the part of Illyricum oriented towards the Adriatic is called Dalmatia,
the part towards the north, Pannonia. The colonies of Emona and Siscia are
located in it; clearly, Pliny’s data about Emona as a Roman colony in Pannonia
should be understood in terms of geography, which is corroborated by the fact
that the Alps had always been regarded as a natural boundary of Italy.
That the passage in which Emona is mentioned is taken from a geographical
description of Pannonia is also confirmed by a recent structural analysis of that
part of Pliny’s 3rd book in which the eastern Adriatic is described. Pliny used at
least four different sources for his encyclopaedic narrative: a periplous, as reflected
in passages concerning navigation, descriptions of coasts, and islands; various
lists, mainly taken from formulae provinciarum, as well as a historical source, and
a geographical description of these regions. In ea (s.c. Pannonia) coloniae Emona,
Siscia… would have originated from a geographical source, especially because in
the Julio-Claudian period the province seems to have officially still been called
Illyricum, and the names Pannonia and Dalmatia were only used unofficially.
Emona’s ambiguous geographical position in the area of the triple border
between Italy, Noricum, and Pannonia is well reflected in Ptolemy’s “Geogr­
aphy”, where Emona is mentioned in two passages. Of these two, the first is
particularly relevant. In the 2nd book, in which he described the geographi-
cal position of Upper Pannonia and listed the Upper Pannonian peoples and
towns, Emona is located “between Italy and Pannonia, below Noricum”40. In-
terestingly, Ptolemy always used the preposition in terms of geography and not
administrative settlement. Geographers of the time were obviously puzzled by

37
Vell. Pat., 2.109.5.
38
CIL III, p. 489.
39
Pliny, NH 3.147.
40
Ptol., Geog. 2.14.7 (ed. Nobbe).

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the inconsistency of the geographical and administrative borders of this area.

With his description of Emona’s position, Ptolemy perhaps wished to express
the discrepancy between the geography and administrative reality, in a similar
way in which he described the position of Iulium Carnicum as being located
between Italy and Noricum41. In-as-much as Iulium Carnicum always belonged
to Italy, the same may be claimed for Emona. It can also be emphasized that
both towns bore the same title Iulia and their inhabitants were inscribed in the
same voting tribe of Claudia, which may indicate that both attained the status
of an autonomous town at more or less the same time.
That Emona indeed always belonged administratively to Italy can also be
confirmed by the lack of the beneficiarii consularis in the city and by an impor-
tant inscription, in which Lucius Caesernius Primitivus, one of the board of five
and the head of the decuria of the collegium fabrum, and his wife Ollia Primilla
left in their wills 200 denarii to the four decuriae of the collegium in order that
they would bring roses to their grave on the day of the festival of an old Italian
goddess Carna42. Such inscriptions rarely occur outside Italy, in a few cases they
are known from Roman colonies in the East, but they had not been found in
Noricum and Pannonia, nor in other western provinces.
An undisputed proof for Emona having belonged to Italy has been furnished
by the boundary stone between the territories of Aquileia and Emona (Fig. 22),
discovered near Bevke, which is most probably dated to the period of Augustus or
perhaps Tiberius43.There are two arguments in favour of this early dating; one is
paleographic, since the letter-forms resemble those of the earliest inscriptions of
the Emona Basin, such as e.g. the inscription of the magistri vici from Nauportus.
The other argument, however, is even more important; the boundary stone was
made of Aurisina limestone, from which only the earliest stone monuments on
the territory of Nauportus–Emona were produced, all of them dated to the last
half of the first century BC and the first half of the first century AD.
The region of Nauportus and the Emona Basin were transit areas, situated
along the Amber Route and the so-called route of the Argonauts. This was a key
area for any military actions that were intended to secure or prevent passage
through the so-called Italo-Illyrian Gates at Postojna. Only geo-strategic rea-

41
Ibid. 2.13.4.
42
CIL III 3893 = AIJ 209.
43
M. Šašel Kos, The Boundary stone between Aquileia and Emona, Arheološki vestnik 53,
2002, p. 373–382.

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 Marjeta Šašel Kos, The Roman Conquest of Illyricum

Fig. 22.  The boundary stone between Aqui­

leia and Emona (from Arheološki vestnik 53,
2002, 375)

sons dictated that the region of Emona should administratively be united with
Italy, but they were decisive. As long as the Roman state could control this area
trans Alpes, this area remained within Italy.

Suggested readings

Cabanes P., Les Illyriens de Bardylis à Genthios (IVe–IIe siècles avant J.-C.)
(Regards sur l’histoire), Paris 1988.
Cambi N., Čače S. , Kirigin B. (eds.), Grčki utjecaj na istočnoj obali Jadrana
/ Greek Influence Along the East Adriatic Coast (Proceedings of the In-
tern. Conference held in Split from Sept. 24th to 26th 1998), Split 2002.
Cavallaro M.A., Da Teuta a Epulo. Interpretazione delle guerre illyriche
e histriche tra 229 e 177 a. C., Bonn 2004.
Dzino D., Illyricum in Roman Politics — 229 BC–AD 68, Cambridge 2010.
Katičić R., Ancient Languages of the Balkans I (Trends in Linguistics State-
of-the Art Reports 4). The Hague, Paris 1976.
Mócsy A., Pannonia and Upper Moesia, London, Boston 1974.
Pająkowski W., Die Illyrier — Illyrii proprie dicti. Geschichte und Siedlungs-
gebiete. Versuch einer Rekonstruktion (ed. L. Mrozewicz), Poznań 2000.

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 Studia Europaea Gnesnensia 7/2013  ·  people and places

Papazoglu F., The Central Balkan Tribes in Pre-Roman Times. Triballi, Au-
tariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians, Amsterdam 1978.
Rendić-Miočević D., Iliri i antički svijet / The Illyrians and the Classical
World, Split 1989.
Sanader, M. (ed.), Kroatien in der Antike (Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäo-
logie / Sonderbände der Antiken Welt), Mainz 2007.
Šašel Kos M., Appian and Illyricum (Situla 43), Ljubljana 2005.
Šašel Kos M., The Roman conquest of Dalmatia and Pannonia under Augu-
stus — some of the latest research results, in: G. Moosbauer, R. Wiegels
(eds.), Fines imperii — imperium sine fine? (Osnabrücker Forschungen
zu Altertum u. Antike-Rezeption 14), Rahden/Westf. 2011, 107–116.
Wilkes J. J., Dalmatia, London 1969.
Wilkes J., The Illyrians, Oxford 1992.

Marjeta Šašel Kos

Rzymski podbój Iliricum (Dalmacja i Panonia)
oraz kwestia północno-wschodniej granicy Italii

Streszczenie
Ilirowie, jak wiele innych ludów, pojawiają się najpierw w micie. Kadmus i Harmonia,
oboje fenickiego pochodzenia, migrują do Enchylei, która prowadziła wojnę z Ilirami.
Bogowie wybrali ich, by stanęli na czele ciemiężonego miasta i pokonali wrogów, co też
uczynili. Kadmus został władcą Ilirów, a Harmonia powiła mu syna — Illirusa. U kresu
życia Zeus przemienił parę w węże i przeniósł na Pola Elizejskie. Z tego wczesnego etapu
niewiele wiadomo o Ilirach. Pierwsze historyczne wzmianki pojawiają się u Herodota
i Hekatajosa, najpełniej zaś obecny w źródłach jest okres panowania dynastii Ardiajów —
Agrona i Teuty, a także ostatniego króla — Gentiosa. Ilirowie, znani jako piraci, zostali po-
konani przez Rzymian w trzech wojnach — w 229, 219 i 168 r. przed Chr., których przebieg
opisali Appian z Aleksandrii, Kasjusz Dion, Polibiusz i Tytus Liwiusz. Olbrzymie znaczenie
dla podboju Illiricum miały działania militarne Oktawiana w latach 35–33 przed Chr.
oraz Tyberiusza w latach 11–9 przed Chr., które doprowadziły do reorganizacji prowincji.
Zwycięstwo Rzymian uwieczniono na dwóch łukach triumfalnych, wzniesionych w Pa-
nonii, ale także na jednej z najsłynniejszych gemm — gemma Augustea. Jednego z jeń-
ców interpretuje się jako Bato (przywódcę wielkiej rebelii 6–9 r. po Chr.), a dwie kobiety
symbolizują Dalmację i Panonię. Autorka artykułu wbrew wielu opiniom uznaje, że jedno
z miast — Emona (100  km od Tegeste), łączona z Panonią, w istocie należała do Italii.

200